My search on the whereabouts of the evil cultist like beyonder that 'cured' Bell, led me to a root cellar located at the edge of the village.
Initially used to store food, it expanded further underground over time and eventually was converted into an underground prison of sort.
Apparently, the cleansing rituals would cause certain curses to accumulate in the night dwellers and eventually corrupt them. Some would turn into murderous mindless monsters, which explained the reason for the armed guards in the rituals.
Luckily the monsters created tend to be of a weaker sequence and able to be killed by non-beyonder weapons and warriors.
Once again I counted my blessings that I did not witness such an occurrence when Muriel showed me for the first time.
Still need bleach for my mind on what happens during the moonlight cleansing ritual though... *Hurk*
Back to the root cellar, apparently some luckier individuals who accumulate too much curses did not transform into monsters but were corrupted enough to become adjacent pathway beyonders.
Asking Rosa, Muriel and the other villagers, I later learned that those who became 'the lucky few' tend to survive for less than five years after turning.
Not so lucky after all...
The root cellar acted more like a final resting place compared to a prison if you think about it.
Sympathizing with their short lifespan, I decided to leave the pervert alone. Having sticks thrown at them during their last living days seemed a little too cruel.
Also, there is a chance that he might see me throwing sticks at him and fireball my ass.
Now that I think about it. Probably not a good idea to disturb a beyonder...
Of course, leaving them alone doesn't mean I'll act like the prisoners do not exist. Inquiring about them did not cost me anything anyway besides some time chatting. The islanders tend to like gossiping anyway so it became a pretty good way to pass the time and at the same time satisfy my curiosity.
Over the course of a few weeks, of the information I managed to gleam from the gossips, the perverted robed beyonder that cured Bell used to be a tall trader named Jacob. The irony was that he was not a night dweller so nobody really knew how he became a beyonder.
Most suspected that was he afflicted by the island's curse for sloths. Perhaps out of shame, to hide his inability to cure thirst with water, he secretly ate fruits gathered in the forest. Uncleansed from the ritual, the fruit juice he drank accumulated somehow to the point of corruptting him into a beyonder.
During the trading trips, Jacob somehow managed to find a secret organization or hidden beyonder meeting and acquired the recipe and ingredients for his promotion.
His luck ran out with his promotion as it came with a loss of conscience. On the ship back to the island, his crewmates discovered him torturing caught marine life for fun and secretly informed the night dwellers.
Prepared for a fight, several night dwellers and warriors surrounded his home but were pleasantly surprised that he surrendered immediately without much fuss.
Despite his sadist tendencies, the Islanders gave him the benefit of the doubt due to his reasonable behavior. At the very least they would use him first besides the other prisoners when certain beyonder skills were required.
Another prisoner with the same sequence and pathway as Jacob was an old night dweller that was into bestiality and tried to impregnate some animals with his seed. I decided there and then to never meet him. Also to give the root cellar prison a wide berth.
Ick.
The other cellmates in the root cellar were were ironically, sequence 9 Prisoner.
Makes sense in a twisted kind of way.
They were beyonder night dwellers and through consuming the potion, caused their spirituality and desires to be constrained by reason, body, and the world. This affords them some resistance to the curses they take in from the cleansing rituals.
Of course, resistant does not mean immune. Those that felt like they were about to lose control would give themselves in and be locked up.
Another reason why night dwellers were greatly respected in the island.
Also I'm not sure if the recipe for the promotion potion after Prisoner is kept hidden or they just did not have it.
***
Rows of fruits were neatly arranged on a table. Bell cupped her chin and poked one with a silver dagger and nodded in affirmation.
I nodded too, confidently showing my knowledge of what was happening.
I have no clue what is going on...
Muriel stood at the side and gave me a stink eye. I pretended not to notice her.
Shoo. Stop interrupting my alone time with Bell. Go away you third wheel!
"Just as I suspected, there are a variety of curses on every fruit. Your initial assessment of only a single type of curse for every plant is flawed." Bell posited.
"In my experience, this usually is the aftereffects of a third or fourth epoch beyonder battlefield between different pathways. Lingering spirits, beyonder artifacts or any number of reasons could explain our current situation." She continued.
"Indeed..." I helpfully added.
Muriel rolled her eye, before questioning Bell, "What do you mean by multiple curses? My spiritual vision only detects one abberant colour here."
I squinted my eye. The swamp apple looks green to me. Is that abberant? Anyways, I stepped back and studied Bell's behind.
Hmm. Yes. Peaches.
"See here?" Bell prodded the fruit with her dagger again, "The curse has somehow blended into a single color. I do not know what is causing this but hopefully it will be a secondary concern."
Muriel raised her eyebrows, and their discussion continued till the morning.
At least I managed to get some sweet, lovely dreams during my sleep...
***
As I wiped out the drool from my mouth, I woke up to the sight of an empty shed.
Bah! Can't believe they left me here alone. What if an evil spirit or monster decide to attack me? Don't they have any sense of responsibility for my safety?
Feeling awake, I decided to visit Bobo.
Maybe I'll go fishing again this morning...
As I reached Gram's stall in search of Bobo, I was instead pressured to help gut some fishes.
In a good mood, I relented and helped Gram with his work. While chopping some guts and scooping them into a pot, I asked "Old man, where's Bobo? Didn't you bring her with you today?"
"She's in the communal shed, near the Potato farm." Gram grunted. "She's pregnant, some healers are checking on her. Making sure nothing strange going on and all that."
"Huh." I paused chopping for a while, then continued working again, "Who's dog knocked her up?"
Gram shrugged.
Fair enough. Who's gonna care so much about a mutt...